No Going Home
by Dana1
Summary: He slipped through his fingers when they were leaving and now he's gone.
1. What Once Was Lost

Title: No Going Home  
Author: Dana  
Rating: PG-13 to be on the safe side.  
Warnings: Violence. Uhhhhhh and something else that will be revealed.  
Summary: He slipped through his fingers when they were leaving and now he's gone.

Time frame: AU of King for a Day Part 2.

Author's note: If you are really confused stay with me, things will make sense.  
Disclaimer: if you've seen them on TV they are not mine .

Jason saw it before anyone else did and grabbed onto Tommy's arm as Gasket came closer with his sword raised. The teleportation happened just as Gasket lunged at Tommy. Jason grabbed him but saw a cog was also holding onto Tommy's leg.

As Jason disappeared his grip on Tommy disappeared also. The Rangers landed in the Power Chamber.

"Zordon where's Tommy?" Kat asked coming up to their mentor. "We all teleported out at the same time."

"I DO NOT KNOW KATHERINE." Zordon answered her. "HE MUST HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO TELEPORT OUT."

"Jason?" Billy asked seeing the Gold Ranger was standing there staring at something but he wasn't sure what it was. He was facing the viewing globe but nothing was on it. "Jason?" He repeated again.

Jason didn't say anything.

"ALPHA CAN YOU GET A LOCK ON TOMMY?" Zordon asked.

"Ai yai yai yai yai Zordon!" Alpha answered. "He's disappeared off of the scanners again.

"What if Gasket is brainwashing him again?" Rocky asked.

"I am not showing his brain scans Rocky. I'm not showing anything."

"He killed him." Jason said so quietly no one heard him.

"KEEP TRYING TO FIND HIM ALPHA." Zordon instructed.

"Can't we just teleport back?" Kat asked. "We know where they are this time."

"We weren't the ones who teleported you." Billy said. "Someone else teleported you in there and someone else helped you escape."

There was a flash of light and a pair of Zeonizers appeared in Alpha's hands.

"Why would Gasket send them back?" Tanya asked. "Wouldn't he want the Zeonizers so he could use Tommy to fight us?"

"It doesn't matter." Jason said but he was saying it so quietly no one noticed.

There was another flash of light. A communicator appeared in Alpha's hands next.

"Now how are we going to rescue him?" Adam asked.

"Look it doesn't matter!" Jason said turning around. His face was ashen. "Gasket killed him. I saw it." He said and teleported out.

* * *

Chapter 1:

Jason Scott stood at the lake staring at nothing. This was where Tommy was abducted. Tommy had had so much fun that day trying out his uncle's wave runner. That was only yesterday. Now his best friend was dead and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't believe this was all happening.

"Jason?" A voice asked from behind him. He turned around to see Billy standing there.

"Hey Billy." He said before turning back around.

"You know we don't actually know if Gasket killed Tommy."

"I saw it happen Billy. The other Rangers weren't paying attention. I had Tommy and so did the cog. When I teleported I lost my grip on Tommy's arm. I..." He trailed off. "I saw Gasket ram the sword in his chest."

"You saw it?" He asked sounding perplexed. "But the other Rangers..."

"We weren't there Billy. I saw it happen. I know you think it's crazy but I saw it! Tommy's dead and there's nothing we can do."

"Jason..." Billy obviously didn't know what to say to his friend.

"Billy it happened." Jason said looking up at him with tears in his eyes. "Gasket won."

* * *

Charlotte Oliver was preparing dinner. She looked at the clock on the stove and wondered where Tommy could be. Her husband Ryan was at a conference where he was a guest speaker in San Ysidro and wouldn't be back until Thursday. Cory was up in his room playing with his toys.

She heard a knock on the door and she went to answer it.

She found Jason standing there.

"Jason." She said flashing him a smile. "Tommy's not here."

"I know Mrs. Oliver." He said his voice shaking. "I need to talk to you."

She let him into her house. "What can I do for you Jason?"

"Tommy's..." His voice shook. He looked like he was about to start crying at any moment. "He..."

Charlotte sat down in a chair. She wasn't sure what he was about to tell her but she knew it couldn't be any good. She wished Ryan were there.

"He died this morning."

"What?" She asked looking at him perplexed. "What do you mean he died? I just spoke to him on the phone an hour ago."

"You what?" Jason asked sounding really confused.

"He called to say he was going to be home in an hour. Something about him and Billy were still working on something."

"What?" Jason asked in confusion. "Are you sure?"

"Jason I'd know my son's voice any day." She said with a laugh then she grew solemn. "Why did you think Tommy was dead?"

"I...I don't know." Jason said getting up and hurrying out the door.

Charlotte stared after him wondering what was going on. Jason didn't seem to be the kind of person who would play a cruel joke like that. She'd have to ask Tommy when he got home.

* * *

Chapter 2

Jason didn't really want to go to school the next day. He wasn't sure how he was going to be able to answer people's questions about what had happened to Tommy. They hadn't had a chance to come up with an answer yet.

When he arrived at school he went straight to where Rocky and Kat's lockers were knowing that Tanya and Adam were most likely there also. He was glad to see he was right.

"Hey guys." He greeted. "I thought we better get out our story straight before someone asks."

"Our stories straight about what?" Kat asked looking confused.

"About Tommy. We need to decide what happened."

"Jason what are you talking about?" Tanya asked.

"You know," he then dropped his voice in a whisper, "about his death."

"Jason Tommy's..." Adam started to say.

"Tommy's what?" A very familiar voice said from behind them.

Jason turned around and fainted at whom he saw.

When Jason came to he felt something was covering his eyes. He took it off and saw that it was a cold compress.

* * *

"I don't know Mrs. Scott." A voice said from the other side of the door. "His friends said he was talking about something weird and fainted. I think it may be best to come take him home. We will see you soon. Goodbye."

Jason sat up when a door opened.

"Hello Jason. My name is Nurse Stone. How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He answered her. "Why am I in here?"

"You fainted." She checked his pulse and pupils. "Your mother is on the way here to pick you up and take you home." She made a note on a clipboard. She took the towel away from him and ran cold water over it. "Why don't you just lay back and close your eyes while you wait. If you need anything let me know." She said and walked out the door.

Jason watched her and frowned. Did he really see Tommy? He wondered. He was dead wasn't he? Nothing was making sense at this moment. He'd go see Zordon when his mother returned to work. He had to have answers.


	2. An Explanation?

Notes: To Project314: Things are going to get really bumpy and thanks for the comments. Like I said it's going to be really confusing but there's more then meets the eye and let's just say you aren't that far from the truth.

Jason teleported up to the Power Chamber that afternoon hoping to get answers from Zordon about what was going on.

"HELLO JASON. SHOULD YOU NOT BE IN SCHOOL?" Zordon inquired.

"The school nurse sent me home. I have questions and I need answers. How did Tommy get back? His communicator and Zeonizers were sent back."

"WHOEVER SENT THE OTHER RANGERS TO GASKET'S ARENA MUST HAVE SENT TOMMY BACK."

"That doesn't explain my seeing Gasket ram a sword through Tommy's chest."

"I KNOW IT DOESN'T JASON BUT IS IT POSSIBLE THAT YOU DID NOT SEE EVERYTHING?"

"It's possible." Jason said his brow furrowing. "But I don't think I could have not seen it. It's kind of hard to miss."

"WHY DON'T YOU ASK TOMMY ABOUT IT? I AM SURE HE CAN TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED." Zordon said.

"I guess." Jason said though he still wasn't sure of what Zordon was saying.

* * *

"How are you doing Jason?" Tommy asked when they were sitting down in Jason's living room. Jason had tried calling Tommy with his communicator and had gotten nothing but interference. He had to use the normal way of communication, a telephone.

"I'm fine. I was just shocked to see you at school." Jason said looking at his best friend carefully looking for anything that would be wrong but couldn't find anything.

"It was Monday where else would I be?" Tommy asked with a small chuckle.

"I saw Gasket kill you."

"He didn't kill me. He looked like he was about to first by sending back my Zeonizers and then my communicator. I thought he was going to use the device again but someone teleported me to the Power Chamber before he could. I had to make up some excuse for going home late. I'm glad my mom believed that I was working with Billy on something."

"What were you doing?" Jason asked.

"Alpha and Billy were running tests to see if there was any lasting effects and I came back fine." Tommy said with a shrug. He seemed to see the still doubtful expression on Jason's face because then he said, "Jason I promise, I'm not dead. If I was, I think I'd be the first one to know."

"What's with your communicator anyway? I tried to contact you and got nothing but static."

Tommy shrugged. "I haven't tried it." He tried calling the Command Center and got nothing but static. "Gasket probably did something to it before sending it back. Probably should have Billy check out the Zeonizer before I morph." He said with a smile.

"I guess." Jason said.

Tommy looked at the time and stood up. "I better go. I have a class to teach today."

"Okay bro." Jason said and walked him to the door.

He went into the kitchen to get a soda and stopped as he thought about what Tommy just said.

Class?

The Youth Center was closed today for a complete cleaning. He shook his head. It was probably Tommy's known faulty memory.


	3. Sparks Fly

Jason walked into the Youth Center the next day after school feeling better. He had, of course, gone to school that day but he was happy to go to the Youth Center and hang out.

He found Tommy and Rocky sparring on a mat in the center of the Youth Center. He took a seat at the table that Kat and Tanya were sitting in and turned the chair around to face the sparring.

"Hey Jason." Adam said joining them. "You want to spar?"

"Yeah sounds good." Jason said getting up from the table and going to the locker room to change. The locker room was empty when he entered it. He picked his usual locker and changed. He locked the locker and left the room.

"You ready?" He asked coming up to him. He chuckled when he saw Adam jump. "Sorry man." He apologized.

"No problem." Adam put the juice he had been drinking and he and Jason started sparring. Jason didn't have very many opportunities to spar with Adam and he was enjoying the chance. Adam had certainly improved.

The sparring ended and they joined their friends at a table. Jason started towel drying his face and stopped as he looked at the towel. There was blood on it.

He ran a hand over his face trying to find any wound that he didn't know about but couldn't find any. "Guys am I bleeding?"

Kat grabbed his hands and looked at his face. "Not that I see. Why?"

"Look at..." He trailed off. He looked at the towel and there was no sign of blood on it. "Never mind." He said. "I thought I saw blood on the towel."

Their communicators went off.

They got up from their tables and went to their usual corner to contact Zordon.

"We read you Zordon." Tommy answered.

"RANGERS YOU MUST COME UP TO THE POWER CHAMBER. GASKET HAS SENT DOWN A ROBOT."

They went to teleport and Jason's communicator didn't work. Tommy's sparked. Adam, Rocky, Tanya, and Kat all disappeared.

"Guess it's not just mine." Tommy said with a shrug.

"You know there's something not right about all of this." He said to Tommy.

They disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

Gasket wanted to throw something. How could this possibly be happening? Nothing he had planned worked the way it should. If they had, he wouldn't have to be worrying about the Gold Ranger..

"What's the matter Gasket?" Sprocket asked in his whiney voice.

"It's not working!" He said slamming a cell door. "He will not give in."

"Maybe your plan doesn't work." Sprocket suggested.

"It works fine. There's something wrong." He walked past his little brother and into the throne room for where he could view the Earth. He looked down and didn't see the Rangers. They were most likely in the Power Chamber and he wasn't able to view that. He'd have to wait until they left. Nothing was going according to plan and it was starting to make him mad. He was going to prove he was the rightful King of the Machine Empire no matter what the cost.

The Power Rangers were not going to win.


	4. What if?

The Rangers landed in the Power Chamber looking around expectantly.

"Have you found them yet?" Rocky asked not concealing the fear in his voice. They had been gone too long without some kind of trace. The last time Tommy had disappeared it had been only for a day now they were going on four days.

"NOT YET ROCKY." Zordon answered. "WE ARE STILL SEARCHING FOR THEIR SIGNAL. I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THERE HAS BEEN A DEVELOPMENT."

"What kind of development?" Tanya asked.

Alpha held up two communicators. "These arrived this morning. We have been unable to track where they came from but they are Jason and Tommy's."

"So Gasket sent them back?" Kat asked in disbelief. "But why?"

"WE DO NOT KNOW THE REASON WHY KATHERINE." Zordon answered her. "JUST AS WE DO NOT KNOW WHY THEY DIDN'T TELEPORT."

Kat remembered that day when they left Gasket's arena. She had seen Gasket make a lunge at Tommy but she couldn't do anything to stop him. Jason had grabbed Tommy and that was all she saw before they landed in the Power Chamber to discover not everyone escaped the arena. They had all been a little more then shocked when Zordon had told them he couldn't track them.

She knew she wasn't the only one who was thinking the reason they couldn't find them was because they were both dead. Usually when one of the villains kidnapped one of them they would find out about it right away or they would be able to find something. Gasket hadn't made a peep since then.

"What if they are..." Adam started to say but seemed too afraid to finish.

"Yeah what if they are both dead?" Rocky asked. "Kat you saw what Gasket was about to do."

"YOU MUST NOT THINK THAT RANGERS." Zordon answered him. "WE MUST NOT GIVE HOPE FOR IF WE DO, IT WILL PLAY INTO GASKET'S HAND I AM SURE."

"We need to tell the Olivers and Scotts something more then they are " Tanya said. "They are eventually not going to believe that Tommy's at David's and the Scotts are coming home this weekend."

"WE WILL THINK OF SOMETHING." Zordon reassured them. "UNTIL THEN..."

There was a flash of light and then something hit the wall where the White Ranger suit was. Billy, who was closest, hurried over and inspected it. "Zordon?" He looked over at his mentor. "Tommy's Zeonizers came back."


	5. A Story

Jason looked at Tommy as they rematerialized in the same spot where they had just been standing. There was something seriously wrong with their communicators.

"This is weird." Tommy said.

"Why aren't we able to teleport?" Jason wondered. "And why isn't Zordon able to teleport us up to the Power Chamber?"

"I have no idea. You want to hear something even stranger? My Zeonizers are gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Jason asked. He was completely confused.

"Gone like I can't call them."

Jason twisted his own wrist and found his Zeonizers. Something was really wrong here and he wished he knew what it was. He was going to have to find a way to talk to Zordon about this.

* * *

Gasket fumed as he walked back into the cell. He had sent down a monster and the Rangers still beat them when they were two Rangers down. He looked down at the bound body on the ground. He took his sword out contemplating just ending his problem now but something caught his eye.

It was an arrowhead. He picked it up and felt a power coming from it. He didn't understand why there was power in it but he decided to hold onto it.

"So what are you going to do with him?" Sprocket asked coming up to the cage door. "Huh Gasket?"

"What I have planned is none of your business Sprocket. Now leave."

"Hey that's the arrowhead that dad was after!" Sprocket said trying to take it from Gasket.

"Oh really." Gasket said looking at it closer. He was going to have to ask Clank why his father was after the arrowhead. Maybe it would be useful after all.

* * *

"This isn't going to work." Rocky said as he, Adam, and Tanya walked up to the Scott's front door. Katherine and Billy were visiting the Olivers.

"It has to work." Tanya said. "Unless you want to tell them that Jason's been captured by Sprocket and is possibly dead."

"Fine." Rocky said as he rang the doorbell.

A few moments the door opened and Elizabeth Scott was there. "Hello." She said. "Jason's not home. He left a message that he would be at the Youth Center."

Rocky and Adam nodded. It had been Zordon's suggestion to send down the note until they had a definitive solution.

"That's what we came to talk to you about." Tanya said. "He and Tommy went camping. He would have told you but it was a last minute idea and they were meeting Tommy's older brother."

"Why didn't Jason just call?" Elizabeth asked not keeping the concern out of her voice.

"His cellphone wasn't charged." Adam said quickly. "He asked us to come and tell you."

"Well if you happen to hear from Jason," Elizabeth said visibly relaxing, "let him know that next time we'd appreciate him asking before he takes off camping."

"Will do." Rocky said.

Elizabeth shut the door.

"It actually worked!" Rocky said still unsure of what just happened.

"Let's just hope the Oliver's also buy it."

* * *

Billy and Katherine were just about to ring the doorbell at the Oliver home when they saw a jeep pull up.

"Oh no it's David." Kat said watching the older man walk up to them.

"There goes that plan." Billy said. "We will need to think of an alternate plan for where Tommy is."

"Right."

"Hi." David said coming up to them. He started to ring the doorbell but Kat stopped him.

"We need you to cover for us again with Tommy." Kat said.

"You mean he still hasn't been found?" David asked in fear showing in his voice.

"Affirmative. We came to the Oliver home in hopes of preventing them of worrying. The Scott's are being told Jason went camping with you and Tommy. We were planning to use the same reason with the Olivers."

David looked at both of them. "I'll see what I can do." He said and rang the doorbell.


	6. Nothing Wrong

* * *

Jason waited until the others had left before he spoke to Zordon. He and Tommy were teleported up as soon as the others discovered they couldn't teleport. Zordon had to have answers to what was wrong.

"Zordon what happened to my communicator?" He asked.

"I DO NOT KNOW JASON. ALPHA AND BILLY WILL RUN A FEW TESTS TO SEE WHAT IS WRONG WITH BOTH YOURS AND TOMMY'S COMMUNICATORS. I AM SURE IT IS SOMETHING THAT CAN EASILY BE FIXED."

"Everything's been weird since we got back from Gasket's Arena. The communicators don't work, the vision I saw of the Arena that no one can explain, the blood I saw on the towel, and the fact that there's just something wrong." He wasn't sure how he could explain all of this to Zordon. He knew it sounded crazy but the more he tried to figure it out the stranger things got.

"I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONFUSION JASON." Zordon answered. "WE ARE STILL LOOKING INTO WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ARENA. NOW WHAT'S THIS ABOUT BLOOD ON A TOWEL?"

Jason had forgotten he hadn't told Zordon that. "After I was sparring with Adam, I found blood on the towel. When I looked again it was gone."

"JASON I WOULD LIKE ALPHA TO RUN SOME SCANS TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT. I DID NOT THINK OF RUNNING THE SCANS ON ANYONE EXCEPT TOMMY. MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE THEM RUN ON ALL OF YOU."

Alpha brought up a bioscan bed and instructed Jason to lie on it. Alpha ran the scan and looked up at Zordon.

"There's nothing different." He informed Zordon.

_"Gold Ranger." A voice taunted. _

Jason's eyes snapped open.

"_Don't mess around with things you don't understand." _Gasket's voice taunted. _"You and the Zeo Ranger 5 are mine." _

"WHAT'S WRONG JASON?" Zordon said seeing the look on Jason's face.

"I just..." He trailed off. "Never mind. Could you teleport me to the others?"

"OF COURSE JASON. ALPHA PLEASE TELEPORT JASON TO THE JUICE BAR?"

"Teleporting now." Alpha answered.

Jason was gone in a flash of light.

* * *

Gasket was growing more and more frustrated with the machine he was using to keep the Gold Ranger out of his way. He had never had someone resist it to the degree he was. He would need Klank to check it for any flaws.

He fingered the arrowhead he had found on the ground. He had spoken to Klank about it and found out the arrowhead held a great power when it was combined. The other half was with the Zeo Ranger's brother. He supposed with Tommy out of the way, he would have no trouble getting the arrowhead.

He summoned the cogs to find David Trueheart and to bring the arrowhead to him.

He looked once again at the figure lying crumpled on the floor before walking away. He was going to prove to everyone, that he was better then his father. He was going to destroy the Rangers once and for all.

* * *

"I still can't believe they all bought it." Rocky said later that day at Ernie's beach stand. "I thought for sure they would want to call them."

"Would someone please tell me what's really going on?" David asked. "If I'm going to be the alibi, I need to know. Is my brother okay?"

"We don't know." Kat said and looked around to make sure no one was in earshot. "He and Jason never made it out of the Arena and Tommy's Zeonizers came back. I think we need to prepare for the worst."

"We can not give up hope." Billy argued. "They could be prisoners and Gasket has just not informed us of his demands."

"You didn't see it Billy." Kat said with tears in her eyes. "Gasket had the sword."

"Hey guys." Emily said coming up to them. "Where's Jason?"

"He and Tommy went camping." Tanya said.

"Oh." She said not hiding her disappointment. "Do you guys want to order anything?"

They shook their heads and she walked away.

They sat there in silence trying to decide what was going on. Then the Cogs attacked.


	7. Be Careful What You Ask For

Jason couldn't shake the fact that there was something very wrong here. He still couldn't get past what Gasket said in his head: "_Don't mess around with things you don't understand. You and the Zeo Ranger 5 are mine." _He had been afraid to tell Zordon because he was sure he wouldn't believe him.

Was he going crazy or was something very wrong? He saw things the other Rangers didn't and he heard things they didn't and Tommy...Tommy he was the most worried about because he didn't seem the same since he came back from Gasket's arena. It wasn't just the missing Zeonizers or the broken communicators. It was as if they weren't back. He knew that was wrong but sometimes he wondered.

He stopped at the lake and looked out before walking to the spot where he had been pulled into the arena. He knew the portal had been closed, but he was drawn to it. There was nothing there. Just as he knew there wouldn't be.

"You know," Bulk said coming up behind him. "This is where we got sucked in."

Jason turned and looked at them confused. What were they talking about?

"What are you talking about?"

"Yeah it was right here Bulkie." Skull agreed without answering Jason's question.

Jason started to walk away.

"Wait Skull did you just see that?" Bulk asked.

"No what?"

"I thought I just saw the Gold Ranger."

"What?" Jason asked looking around pretending to be looking for the Gold Ranger. "I don't see anything."

Bulk walked up to him and put a hand right through his chest.

* * *

Gasket was beyond angry. The Cogs hadn't been able to retrieve the arrowhead as they had been instructed. The Gold Ranger did not believe anything he was seeing.

"Fine!" He said to no one in particular. "If the Gold Ranger doesn't want to accept it, let him have reality." He said and turned the machine off and removed the machine from the top of Jason's head. He stepped back to watch.

* * *

Jason hurried into the Youth Center. He was going to have to tell the others what had happened at the lake but he knew no one would believe him. He wasn't sure if he even believed himself.

Tommy was standing at the juice bar with Kat and Tanya talking to Ernie and Emily. Adam and Rocky were sparring on the mat. Everything seemed so normal but he knew it wasn't.

He went over and signaled for everyone to follow him. They walked out of the Youth Center into a secluded place in the parking lot.

"What is it Jase?" Tommy asked as soon as everyone had joined them.

"I was at the lake and so was Bulk and Skull. They were standing in the spot I was taken from. Bulk said they saw the Gold Ranger and then walked toward me. Bulk put his hand at my chest and it went right through."

"That's crazy." Rocky said. "We see you." He said and reached his hand out and touched Jason's shoulder. "See my hand is not going through you."

"You guys what if we are still in Gasket's arena?" He asked. It was the first time he told the others what he thought had happened.

"I think it was a fluke." Kat said quietly.

"What do you think?" Jason asked turning to face Tommy but he was gone. "Where did Tommy go?" He asked everyone else.

He turned and found himself alone.

Suddenly there was a very bright light and he felt like he was falling. He opened his eyes and found that he was no longer in the parking lot of the Youth Center. He was lying on a cold hard floor. He sat up and realized he was in a cell of some type.

He sat up and saw something lying on the floor not too far away. Jason stood and walked toward it and gasped.

There was so much blood on the floor but he had no trouble seeing Tommy lying in the middle of it. He shakily searched for a pulse and found a very weak one.

"Are you happy now Gold Ranger?" Gasket asked from the other side of the cell. "You were right. You never did escape." He let out a laugh. "And you never will." He said and walked away.

Jason sat there stunned.


	8. Waking

Jason couldn't believe this. He had truly believed that something else was going on, however, this was not what he wanted. He waited until Gasket had left before going over to Tommy again.

Tommy was unconscious and was barely breathing. Jason did a quick survey of Tommy's body looking for the injury and didn't find it right away because of the darkness of the room. His hands traced Tommy's chest and found that his chest had been wrapped and he didn't feel any wetness so he assumed the bleeding had stopped. What were they going to do? He wondered.

(((

Tommy's eyes fluttered open and wondered where he was for a brief moment but the pain in his chest brought it all back. He remembered trying to teleport out of Gasket's arena and feeling something grab his legs and then Gasket's sword moving closer and then a pain ripping through his chest. He remembered screaming and then that was it until he woke up in a strange room.

Gasket had been standing over him with what could have been perceived as a glint in his eye though it was hard to tell, as Gasket was a robot after all.

_"Your friends have abandoned you." Gasket said as he leaned over and started tending to his wound. "I should just kill you now, but I think you will be of some use alive." _

_Tommy stared at him in too much pain to even speak. He turned his head slightly and saw Jason lying on the ground connected to some machine. _

_"J..." He started to say but stopped as pain gripped him. _

_"You needn't worry about the Gold Ranger." Gasket said following his gaze. "He's fine. For the time being." _

_Tommy closed his eyes as another spasm of pain went through him. _

_"The Rangers shall soon fall." Gasket promised his voice fading as he walked further away._

_Tommy had passed out from the pain and only woke up on and off whenever someone brought him water or some food substance. _

He turned his head slightly and noticed Jason was leaning against the wall no longer attached to the machine.

"Jase." He called hoarsely.

Jason looked up and then hurried over to him. "Thank God." Jason said upon seeing him awake. "How are you?"

"Hurt." Tommy said and gritted his teeth as he shifted positions.

"He really did stab you." Jason said anger evident in his voice. "I thought...I hoped that I was wrong."

"How..."

"Don't talk bro." Jason said quickly noticing how much trouble his friend was having talking. "Are you chained up?"

Tommy started to say something but shook his head just slightly.

"Neither am I." He said sounding surprised. Maybe Gasket assumed that they wouldn't be able to escape as Tommy was quite injured and he was also sure the force fields were back up as they hadn't been rescued by the others yet.

He flicked his wrists calling his Zeonizers and noticed they were gone. Most likely taken by Gasket, as was his communicator.

Tommy tried to push himself up and let out a cry of pain.

"Don't move."

"Need to sit up. Trouble breathing..."

Jason didn't see much of a choice as he helped Tommy sit up straight. He helped him lean against the wall.

Tommy's eyes closed as he passed out from the movement.

Now he knew why they weren't chained up. Tommy couldn't move without passing out and he wasn't going to abandon him.

They were pretty much screwed at the moment


	9. Pain

Jason stood and started inspecting the cell. It was locked but there were no Cogs to be seen. The cell was rather large with nothing inside. There were no windows so the only view they had was through the cell bars.

He went back to where Tommy was leaning against the wall. He found that Tommy was still unconscious and that his breathing was the same. Jason ran a hand through his hair as he wondered what he was going to do. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

He was awakened by the cell door opening. He stood up quickly to face Gasket and a group of Cogs.

"Ah Gold Ranger," Gasket said approaching him. "I was hoping you'd be awake," he turned to the Cogs. "Take Zeo Ranger 5."

The Cogs went to take Tommy and Jason stood in front of tommy. He fought them

"Gold Ranger I have no problem with killing you then your friend, however, my plans at the moment do not include either of you though that could change." He pointed his sword in Tommy's direction. "I suggest if you wish Tommy to remain alive, you will allow my Cogs to take him."

Jason reluctantly stepped back and allowed the Cogs to take Tommy.

***

Tommy came to to a world of pain. He felt himself being supported by metal shoulders. He was in too much pain to put up any kind of struggle. He was dragged down the corridors and soon found himself in the throne room.

The Cogs stopped and moved away from Tommy. Tommy nearly collapsed to the floor after his support disappeared.

Gasket came into the room. "Klank!" He yelled.

Klank came into the room. "Yes Prince Gasket?"

"Do you have the machine I instructed you to make?"

"Yes I have just completed it. I will go get it," he said and left.

Tommy was fighting the urge to slip to the ground. He was still in a lot of pain but he didn't want whatever Gasket had planned for him.

Gasket turned his attention back to Tommy. "You have a lot of fight left in you. Most in your condition wouldn't be able to stand. You would have made a good warrior for the Machine Empire."

Klank came into the room.

"It is time we said goodbye," Gasket said taking the object from Gasket and fired.

Tommy felt pain go through his body. He fell to one knee as the pain kept coming.

Everything went black.


	10. Disconnect

In the Power Chamber, Billy was working on one of the consoles trying to locate Jason and Tommy. It had been almost a week since they had disappeared and he and the others were more then a little worried. No one had ever been captured this long. Gasket hadn't made any demands either which was odd for a villain.

He looked over at Alpha who was pushing buttons at another console.

"Maybe we should just face facts," Rocky said making Billy jump. He hadn't heard the Blue Ranger teleport in. "I mean if they were alive still, wouldn't we have heard something? Kat did see Gasket about to impale Tommy with the sword."

"WE MUST NOT GIVE UP ROCKY," Zordon spoke up. "UNTIL WE SEE OTHERWISE, WE MUST BELIEVE THEY ARE STILL ALIVE."

The alarms started going off.

"What's going on?" Rocky asked.

"SOMEONE OR SOMETHING JUST TELEPORTED INTO ANGEL GROVE PARK. I CAN NOT DETERMINE WHO OR WHAT IT IS. ALPHA PLEASE CONTACT THE OTHER RANGERS AND HAVE THEM MEET ROCKY IN THE PARK."

"It's Morphin time!" Rocky yelled.

"Zeo Ranger III Blue!"

He landed in the park and looked around. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary in the park.

Soon the other Rangers appeared next to him.

"I don't see anything," Tanya said as they began to search the area.

"Something set the alarms off," Rocky said.

"Are we sure we are in the right area?" Kat asked. She stopped as she almost tripped over something. She looked down and barely held back a scream at what she saw.

"You guys! It's Tommy!"

They all rushed over to Kat and saw the wrappings around Tommy's chest.

Rocky checked for a pulse and let out a sigh of relief. "He's still alive."

They carefully picked Tommy up and teleported him to the Power Chamber.

Alpha brought up a medical bed as soon as it saw Alpha's condition. Rocky and Adam carefully laid him down.

Alpha started to scan Tommy. Billy hurried over to assist. After a few moments Alpha and Billy turned off the machines.

"Ai yai yai!" Alpha exclaimed. "Tommy has no connection to the Zeo Crystal!"

Zordon checked the results that Alpha and Billy had sent to him. He was not happy with what he saw. It wasn't the loss of powers that truly bothered him, it was Tommy's life signs. They were weak. Blood had already seeped through the bandages. He needed to go to the hospital as he had lost a lot of blood.

"TOMMY MUST BE TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL. HE HAS LOST A LARGE AMOUNT OF BLOOD AND APPEARS TO BE GOING INTO SHOCK."

"We could take him and say he was hurt during the camping trip," Tanya suggested.

"It wouldn't explain where Jason is," Adam said, "but it could work."

Zordon teleported them to Angel Grove Hospital.

They landed in a deserted area of the parking lot. Tommy stirred a little when Adam and Rocky carefully put his arms around their shoulders. They started to walk towards the hospital. Rocky misstepped and Tommy cried out in pain.

"I can walk," Tommy said in a shaky voice. He moved out from under Rocky and Adam's hold. He took a couple of steps before he started to collapse. Adam moved quickly to catch him.

Tanya hurried to the hospital entrance to get a wheelchair. They sat Tommy in the wheelchair and wheeled him slowly into the hospital.

A nurse hurried over to them. "What happened?" She asked as she signaled for a gurney.

"We were camping and he fell on a log," Rocky said hoping that would explain the stab wound.

"Steve take him to exam room three," she said to one of the orderlies. "Have his parents been contacted?"

"Not yet," Kat said. "We did not have a cellphone where we were camping."

"Give me their number and I'll call them." She handed Kat a form. "Fill this out as well as you can until his parents get here."

"Sure," Kat said looking at the form. Just a quick glance told her she didn't know her leader very well. She handed the form to Adam before turning back to the nurse. "Their phone number is 555-9140."

"Thank you," she said writing down the number. "What's their name?"

"Ryan and Charlotte Oliver," Tanya answered. "His name's Tommy."

"Thank you," she said before returning to her desk.

* * *

Tommy opened his eyes. He didn't hear anyone moving around or any other noises. He was surprised when he sat up without any trouble. He must have been on great pain medication because the last thing he remembered was taking two steps and collapsing.

He looked around the room. It didn't look like a hospital room. There didn't seem to be anything in the room other then the table he was sitting on.

He got up from the table and felt no pain as he set his feet on the cold hard floor. It felt like a stone floor. The walls looked to be made of stone also.

He walked across the room and to a door. He opened the door and jumped back as a Cog went by.

The Cog didn't stop nor did Prince Sprocket who walked so close to him they were almost touching.

Tommy's eyes got bigger when one of the Cogs turned, walked right through Tommy, and into the room.


	11. Just Strange

Notes: Wow I can't believe it's been so long since I updated this fic.

Tommy looked around in shock. How did the Cog walk through him? He wondered. More cogs walked by and none seemed to notice him. He walked down the hall and soon realized that he was definitely not in a hospital.

He looked around where he was in confusion. This was definitely not the Moon Palace. He was probably in Gasket's Arena. Had he imagined his friends finding him? If he had, why didn't the Cogs see him? How was that Cog able to walk through him?

He decided to go left which was the direction that the Cogs were going in. He saw Gasket and he leaned against the wall and allowed him to pass. Gasket hadn't seen him either. There was a loud noise coming from the end of the hall. He walked towards the noise and found a cell.

He tried to open the cell door but his hand went right through it. He decided to try walking through the cell door and was able to enter. He found someone sitting in a chair with a contraption on his head. He walked closer and gasped. That was he. What was going on?

* * *

Charlotte Oliver stood in her son's hospital room watching him breathe in and out. The doctor said that the shock from the blood loss seemed to have caused Tommy to slip into a coma. The teens said Tommy became coherent when they arrived at the hospital but passed out when he tried to walk.

Ryan came into the hospital room. "I agree with the doctors. I don't think this was from falling onto a log. I tried talking to Tommy's friends and they are pretty adamant about the wound being caused by him falling on a log."

Charlotte nodded afraid to speak. She would rather believe it was from falling on a log. Any other suggestion seemed worse. "Did they ever say where Jason is?"

Ryan shrugged. "They said that he's with David clearing up the camp site."

Charlotte frowned. That didn't sound right. Something was going on and the one person who could give them a real answer was in a coma.

* * *

Jason paced the cell. It had been hours since Tommy had been removed from his cell and Gasket had not returned. What had Gasket done to Tommy? He wondered. He thought he had heard screaming earlier but he may have been hearing things. He really hoped it hadn't been Tommy screaming.

He heard a noise coming from outside of his cell. He went to the front of the cell and looked out. He found Cogs walking by along with Prince Sprocket.

"Hello Gold Ranger," Prince Sprocket singsonged.

"What do you want Sprocket?" Jason demanded.

"Just to let you know that the Red Ranger's dead," he said and then dropped something in front of Jason.

It was a Zeo Crystal.


End file.
